Easy DIY Silhouette on PowerPoint- for Mother’s Day

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Are you looking for a Quick and Easy Mother’s Day gift idea in addition to the personalized mothers day gifts and everything else you’ve already got sorted for Sunday? How about a silhouette WITHOUT the projector? I wish that I would have figured this one out years ago! Using the projector is very time-consuming, but not if you do it like this. This is a very simple tutorial on making silhouettes on Microsoft PowerPoint. I am so excited to share this tutorial with you. After this tutorial, I hope you will find using powerpoint fun! Just follow these simple steps. I did try to include as much detail as possible, but once you make your first one, you will see how easy and quick this is.

1. Take the picture.

I used an iPad to take student pictures. First, I took pictures inside, but it created a shadow effects in the background. This picture was taken outside against a contrasting background. If the background blends in to the students hair, skin or clothes, you will have trouble removing the background correctly. It will take part of the child’s blended parts away.

2. Upload the pictures to your computer.

Connect your device to to the computer or upload them via Dropbox.

3. Drag the child’s photo into a PowerPoint document.

I used the horizontal orientation so that I can add two students on one page.

4. Remove the background.

Click on the picture to select it. Click on the FORMAT PICTURE tab. Then, click on the REMOVE BACKGROUND icon. That will automatically convert the background to purple and put a box around the child. Make sure to drag the box to make it bigger or smaller, if you notice that any parts are missing. Things to look for are the shape of the nose, mouth, eye lashes and forehead because these are the parts that might blend in to the background. If nothing is missing, click outside the photo so that the background is removed.

This is what the photo looks like as soon as you click out of the photo. The background is totally removed!

5. Convert the photo into a black image.

To convert the color photo into a silhouette, you need to right-click on the photo to select it. This is the pop-up box that you will see. Click on the FORMAT PICTURE option.

You will get this pop-up box. You simply move the BRIGHTNESS slider all the way to the left. This will make your image BLACK!

6. Crop your silhouette or leave it as is.

If you prefer a close-up of the head, crop your picture. Do this by going back to the FORMAT PICTURE tab and select the CROP option. Then, just drag the corners to select the part of the photo that you want.

7. Resize your photo.

I added a clear 5 by 7 rectangle shape behind the photo. This is very helpful when resizing the silhouette and for cutting the picture out for a 5 by 7 frame.

8. You’re done!

Do the same for another photo on the same page. You see the 5 by 7 inch frame around each photo? This makes it much easier to cut.

This might seem like a long process, but it’s not. I just gave you the little details to make it easier for those who might be new to PowerPoint. It’s so simple. You can take all the pictures at school and take them home to finish them on the computer. You can print on card stock for durability, but it is not necessary if you plan to put them in cheap picture frames.

Pin it for later!

Enjoy!

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21 Books for Mother’s Day

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Are you looking for books for your Mother’s Day unit? Here are some titles that you might find in your school’s library. My favorites are Love You Forever and The Kissing Hand, but the other books are fun to read as well. 

This collection includes the following books:

1.  Olivia A Sweet Surprise for Mom
2.  Love You Forever
3.  The Night Before Mother’s Day
4.  Mama, Do You Love Me?
5.  Is Your Mama A Llama?
6.  Just Shopping With Mom
7.  The Kissing Hand
8.  Just Me and My Mom
9.  Pinkalicious Mother’s Day Surprise
10. Where’s My Mom?
11. Mother’s Day
12. Fancy Nancy’s Fabulous Mother’s Day Brunch
13. Guess How Much I Love You
14. Me and My Mom!
15. Mother’s Day Surprise
16. Happy Mother’s Day
17. I Love You, Mom
18. Clifford’s Happy Mother’s Day
19. I Love You, Little One
20. The Berenstain Bears We Love Our Mom
21. I Love You to the Moon and Back

Did I miss any? Which one is YOUR favorite Mother’s Day book?

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Mother’s Day Craftivity

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Mother’s Day is such a fun holiday. It’s the one special day when we can show our moms how much they are appreciated and loved. This is the perfect time to incorporate some writing activities that can be turned into a keepsake.
I created a Mother’s Day craftivity back in 2012. I finally updated it and added many more pages. There are now two booklets in this download. You can use both student books or choose one to use with this mom craft. 
The sample below shows the mom holding a tablet student book. There are 14 writing prompt pages with this booklet. You do not have to use all pages. Just choose your favorite five and add construction paper for the front and back cover before you glue or staple it to the body. Also, Mothers, if you’d like to perhaps start writing with your young ones, but perhaps take a more matured approach, you may be interested in how to write a book or some other creative writing outlet for yourself to enjoy alongside your child.

The other student book allows the child to show mom that she is the QUEEN at everything that she does. It’s always fun to see how students finish the student prompts. I also love the illustrations that students add to their pages. This book includes 2 cover page options and 10 writing pages.
If you already own this packet, please download it again free of charge.
Download this Mother’s Day activity in English here.
Download this Mother’s Day activity in Spanish here.

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